[imacguy309]

Hello Everyone!

I'm new to the MACNN FORUM, and I just purchased my first iMac a couple of weeks ago and love the erognmic design, it is a iMac 350MHZ Indigo SL and came with Mac OS X. I don't have iLife but hope to be getting it soon. I got it for free and it's in perfect condition...

What can and should I do with this computer other than school?

Thanks,
iMacguy309

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Well with such a old Mac nothing much IMO

[olePigeon]

It'd be great for school stuff. Make sure you get the right version of iLife because you need a G4 processor for the newer versions. Your computer is a little dated, but still useable. For games you could get Quake III, Sim City III, and maybe Star Trek Voyager Elite Force (the first one.)

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO 

Well with such a old Mac nothing much IMO

Some of us who can't afford brand new crap can use something like that quite well.

[chrisdisregard]

...

[Timetheus]

Might be a bit slow, but you could use it to play Civilization III (the original, not the complete in stores now). If you can find a copy on eBay it's a great game! I wasted many an hour with my iMac G3 and the trusty Greeks.

Or there's always Starcraft - That was probably my second favorite game for that system. (there's a OS X patch around too, I think Blizzard still has it on their page even).

As for iLife, I used iMovie 3 w/ mine. Very slow, but usable - I edited a few school videos w/ it senior year. You just have to be patient. Mind you, I had a 400 mhz CPU and 320 megs of RAM in mine, which helped somewhat.

[hookem2oo7]

my indigo iMac G3 is my webserver...it's been on 24/7 for almost a year now since i bought it at a garage sale for $10

[imacguy309]

Originally Posted by hookem2oo7 

my indigo iMac G3 is my webserver...it's been on 24/7 for almost a year now since i bought it at a garage sale for $10

Holy CRAP! A whole year and it hasn't shitted out yet, (LUCKY). I got mine free online, it runs pretty fast and I'm thinking of putting a music program on here...

[papadopolis]

Originally Posted by hookem2oo7 

my indigo iMac G3 is my webserver...it's been on 24/7 for almost a year now since i bought it at a garage sale for $10

just wondering how did you set it up as a web server my ministers are moving back to the UK and are giving me an iMac (is the one with the blue with white dots i think its an SE) anyway i was thinking of doing that with it.

[imacguy309]

Does anyone know if Reason,(the music mixing program) would work on this iMac good or to slow? ThankS!
iMacguy309

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by imacguy309 

Does anyone know if Reason,(the music mixing program) would work on this iMac good or to slow? ThankS!
iMacguy309

QUOTE=Propellerhead Software Site
"Mac OS

G4 or G5 processor
256 MB RAM
2 GB free hard disk space
CD-ROM drive
Mac OS X 10.2 or later, 10.3 or later strongly recommended
Monitor with 800x600 pixels resolution or better
Recommended: MIDI keyboard with built-in MIDI interface, or MIDI keyboard and MIDI interface"

here is the main site: Propellerhead Software The reason software everything is in the upper left.

you can check the specs of your machine to the ones on the site, and try it out. There is even a demo download that you can test with.


Alex

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by imacguy309 

Does anyone know if Reason,(the music mixing program) would work on this iMac good or to slow? ThankS!
iMacguy309

Not unless you happen to have a G4 processor in that baby.

[brassplayersrock²]

^ see above youngin'

alex

[DougAdams]

Even though I have other newer Macs, I've been using my iMac Rev B with OS 9 for professional audio work since it first came out. ProTools Free still runs great on it. In fact, OS 9 kicks ass on it. Sure, some of the software is outdated, but who cares? Documents still print, audio is still playable, Mozilla for OS 9 can be found, and believe it or not, Internet Explorer at one time was the de facto browser on the Mac.

[ebow]

Just so you're aware of your options, you could upgrade that iMac for a 550 MHZ G4:
XLR8 550 MAChSpeed G4 iMac (Slot Load CD) CPU Upgrade
Others will be more qualified to comment on whether that's worth $200.

Short of that, be sure to have a bunch of RAM. I had 640 MB (128 + 512) in my 500 MHz iMac and was pretty happy with that. I guess the price of PC100 / PC133 SDRAM for those computers has been going up recently, so even 512 MB should be pretty good for you, as long as you're not trying to do too much at once

[macbones]

XLR8 400 MAChSpeed G4 iMac (Tray Load CD) CPU Upgrade Kit

Not a bad idea. They also have upgrades for the 400mhz imacs. For $99-, that's not a bad deal. You'll still be pokey though.

[Theodour]

Does anyone know if Reason,(the music mixing program) would work on this iMac good or to slow? ThankS!
iMacguy309

I have Reason 2.5 adapted (came with my Radium keyboard) running on my daughters iMac 233 (first gen bondi blue!).

Its running 10.3.9, has 288 MB RAM, 80 gig HD (partitioned as necessary for this thing's crazy IDE controller) and standard 2MB Vram (you can put in 6 if you can find the memory for it).

It runs just fine ... doesn't even hiccup for the demo songs included, and I never do anything that complicated.

Caveat ... you cannot do anything OpenGL with the graphics card in OS X. I think you can if you want to boot into OS 9, but OS X doesn't support 3d in this particular ATI chipset. (Rage II or something like that).

That means if you want to run a visualizer in iTunes, you have to go into the prefs and deselect "Use OpenGL" ... and option that only works with the inlcuded Visualizer ... which is sad, because the one I really want to use with it is WhiteCap, which I'm sure would get a better framrate ...

It also means that you can't play ANY games that use OpenGL. There is a ray of hope here, though, if you like games. AlephOne has the option to NOT use OpenGL ... so you can play Marathon!

[beautifulfreak]

Here's a list of software I use with my iMac 500Mhz G3, all very adequately:

Open Office
LaTEX (use Gerben Wierda’s i-Installer)
Photoshop CS (doesn't overly feel slow)
Quark 6
Dreamweaver (4 was fast)
VLC for movies
iTunes for all music

These apps all perform adequately. I do pro Photoshop work on my G3, using a 19 inch monitor, courtesy of the iMac's built-in external VGA adaptor. All Photoshop filters are useable, not so slow that they cause stress.

The G3 in Target Mode can also be used as an external firewire drive, so it's useful as a peripheral if you ever upgrade to a faster Mac.

[gikku]

load up all your music, make playlists in iTunes, and plug your stereo into the headphone jack. You'll never need to change CDs again.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by beautifulfreak 

The G3 in Target Mode can also be used as an external firewire drive, so it's useful as a peripheral if you ever upgrade to a faster Mac.

That's going to be one massive and power sucking external HD. I can't imagine the CRT is light on the power use...

[JeffHarris]

AppleWorks still works fine. I still use it for business stuff.
The heck with MS Office!

[papadopolis]

i own one but dont use it much just to house some of my files..... it works fine put a dvd drive in there and then put panther on it (dont know your HD size and youll be flying high)

[imacguy309]

I've had this iMac for a week or two now and I want a couplemore of these long lasting machines... Does anyone know where I can get a couple more of these for $25 or for free. I know alot of people just throw these in the trash but i would like a couple more...

thanks & happy sunday!
iMacguy309

[ibugv4]

It makes me sick to my tummy to hear ANYONE say a G3 is useless. Office, even 2004, works perfectly fine. I wouldn't throw 10.4 on w/out at least 640MB RAM, and even than 10.3 would probably be better. If it's strictly for use as a school system, a handful of education games + Office = win. My main and only system is an all in one G3 running 10.3 (this thing is from 1997) with a CD-RW I added, internal, and 2x hard disks. I also have a G3 tower of similar era, with Apple DVD-R drive added. Its not the fastest thing with flash, but it certainly does work.

[daystartech]

Originally Posted by imacguy309 

Does anyone know if Reason,(the music mixing program) would work on this iMac...

You would need to upgrade it to a G4. Daystar offers a 550 MHz G4 upgrade for $199.
http://daystar-store.com/index.asp?P...ROD&ProdID=317

[imacguy309]

How long should I expect my 350MHZ iMac to last?

Thanks,
iMacguy309